This invention relates to a machine for transferring an armature of an electric motor or similar machine from one location to another, to load or unload a processing station of a production line. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus for gripping an armature, which can be quickly and automatically changed to accommodate a differently sized armature.
In manufacturing electric motors, unwound armatures must be moved from a loading pallet and placed in an armature winding machine to be wound with wire. After winding, the armature must be removed from the winding machine and transferred to other processing equipment for further processing (e.g., for fusing operations). A gripping machine may be used to transfer the armature between the various processing stations, and to precisely position the armature during the manufacturing operations.
An important consideration in the design of modern armature production lines is to enable the processing equipment to process armatures of different sizes. The processing equipment should allow any changes required to be made quickly, and such changes should not require special skill to perform. In a gripping machine, such as the machine of the present invention, changing the collet should be a simple process. For large variations in armature shaft diameter, it may be necessary to change both the collet and the surrounding collet tube. The change-over processes should be adaptable to automation.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a gripping machine in which the collet for gripping an armature shaft can be changed easily and quickly, without requiring that the collet tube associated with the gripping machine be changed.
It would also be desirable to provide a gripping machine in which the collet and the collet tube can be removed and replaced as a single assembly.
It would also be desirable to provide a gripping machine in which change-over of the collet and the collet tube is adaptable to automation.